


Brutal, but with a happy ending

by ClaraCivry (Kat_Of_Dresden)



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt Peter Quill, Hurt/Comfort, Nebula and Peter frienship, Self-Sacrifice, Whump, bridal carry, the good things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 09:28:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17159495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Of_Dresden/pseuds/ClaraCivry
Summary: My entry for winter whumperland!Peter is trying to be friends with Nebula and she is trying to stay away.Being her usual cold angry self is difficult when that obnoxious Terran goes and catches some bullets to save her.Peter Quill whump and Peter and Nebula friendship





	Brutal, but with a happy ending

Peter was trying his best to get on the good graces with the only remaining political family he had, an angry half-cyborg blue lady. It was good for his romantic relationship that he got on well with Nebula, who was technically his sister-in-law. It was important for Gamora too that they got along well, and Peter wanted to make the effort to get to know her. He could tell that Nebula had a very lonely life, and wanted to make up for it as much as he could. So he tried to find out what did she like, what kind of humor made her laugh, what kind of gadgets she longed for to scavenge for them.

But Nebula wasn't an easy person to get to know. She had a lot of barriers, she didn't want other people to know who she was inside. What she liked, what she enjoyed and what she didn't were a mystery. Liking something had been a weak point in her dark past, something that made you vulnerable in a time when vulnerability was an unforgivable crime. She had tried to become this flawless machine, not just physically but mentally too, a machine with no vulnerabilities, no love, no emotion, nothing that could be taken advantage of. Which made Peter's job of getting closer to her more difficult.

Still, he tried. He found out that his sister in law very much enjoyed physical humor, such as people falling, people getting hit in the ass, that sort of thing. It was kind of logical after her whole life not being able to laugh, this was the easiest most basic thing she could laugh at. So sometimes he would fall on purpose, or trip one of the other guys to put a smile in that usually angry solemn face. And maybe on one or two occasions she had come to him to comment on something regarding help with some human and or emotional issue.... but that niceness wasn't what happened most of the time. Usually it was anger.

It was amazing the amount of anger Nebula held inside herself. Even after getting her revenge, even after vanquishing her father and watching him die she was a still terribly bitter, angry, brutal. Most of what she enjoyed was violent in some way. Violence was a very big part of her personality, she found excuses to fight almost anywhere, whereas Peter tried to avoid fighting if he could.

You had to tread very carefully when dealing with Nebula. But still, when you get on her good side she could be a lot of fun, and Peter appreciated that. She had no filter when talking, she would the most brutally honest things and think nothing of it. It was cute, in a strange kind of way. So Peter kept trying – that was just the type of guy he was.

And because he kept trying, he kept making Nebula angry. And fighting with him for the most stupid reasons. Really, he did it with real good intentions, the best intentions, but Nebula wasn't used to this....interest. Like this time he had seen that she'd shown some interest in his old pal Kraglin, and the Ravager had seemed interested in her too, so Peter organized it so they would be left alone and locked in one of the bunkers of their ship, with some drinks and condoms.

Nebula had been fuming, but Peter just smiled.

“I was just trying to lend you a hand! You may be the best in the universe at revenge, but in matters of the heart yours truly is much more experienced. In affectionate issues, you're a bit lacking, Nebs, you know you could do with some help.”

Nebula hated how much she actually liked that nickname.

“If I wanted your help, Quill, I would ask for it. But I will not ask for it, because you're nothing but a nuisance. The day I need some obnoxious idiotic Terran....no, not even then. I don't need you or want you around, Quill, get it in inside that thick skull of yours, if there is indeed something under it”

The classic Nebula style of dealing with things: be cruel, push them away, distance yourself as much as possible. 

But then Quill went ahead and did something truly stupid.... He put himself in the line of fire of a weapon, pushing her away. The attack had come very surprisingly, as they were making their way back to the ship from the supply store, and after the initial shock Nebula was able to disarm and detain their attackers with ease. But now came the matter of Quill, bleeding out terribly on the floor...

He had been shot twice, once in side of the neck (and god was that wound bleeding badly) and another shot was, even worse, on the stomach, where all his vital organs were. He fell on his knees, an odd final look in his eyes. The pain was familiar, like an old friend but it had still come as a surprise, as a bit of a shock.

Nebula froze for a moment. No one except Gamora had ever moved a finger for her well being, no one had hurt themselves so that she would be okay. This 

_Think, Nebula, what's the first thing you should do? Blood. Terrans need it to live, so you should probably stop it from spilling so much. Cover those holes so that he would stop leaking._ She used Quill's own clothes, tore some pieces and strongly bandaged those holes, eliciting some screams of pain from the man. 

“Sorry if I am hurting you, Quill. You know gentleness is not one of my strong suits. I'll try to be softer, you try not to die.”

But Peter's eyes were opening and closing uncoordinated, and Nebula didn't know if he could hear her. Damn, those gunshot wounds had really got him good, hadn't they? Not knowing what else to do to help him, she took him in arms bridal style and started walking. The notion that the Terran may not make it was a very unpleasant one, and made Nebula realise how much that man had come to mean to her.

When he screamed, Nebula hurt too, when he went limp Nebula grew concerned. He was getting paler and paler and she hurried, looking for help everywhere. Quill was badly injured, in dire need of help, and it was because of her. But she would fix it. Peter Quill couldn't die, he was too important.

Peter wasn't just important because he was important for Gamora, he was important for her too. Yeah, he was too loud and cheerful and made her mad most of the time... But he also cared, deeply, about all of them and had helped her find something she never thought she would have :  a home, a real family.

And Peter had been very important for her to find her place, he had been accepting, caring, thoughtful even. Maybe he'd stepped in some lines she hadn't wanted crossed, but it was only because he cared. And having someone that cared about so much, when you have been nothing but cold and distant, was rare and precious. Nebula decided that from that moment on she would look after that relationship and that man better. She had been mean and cruel for the last time. That she bowed.

When Peter woke up the next day, he found out that Nebula had taken hostage a whole medical team to look after him, and had stolen two whole floors of medical supplies from a nearby clinic. That was the Nebula way of dealing with things: brutal, but with a happy ending. He smiled a drugged soft smile to his blue saviour, high on painkillers.

“Aaah, Nebs, I knew you cared.”

Nebula did care, indeed. She had been watching every movement of those medics, spitting out threats if they did something wrong. She may not have known it until that moment, but she cared for him. She had hated watching unconscious and bleeding, his screams of pain had pained her, she had feared for his life.

“Of course I care... Peter.”

Peter's eyes widened to unprecedented proportions.

“You called me by my first name... Getting shot twice has been so worth it.”

Yeah, he was important and she cared about him.... but he was still an idiot.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked! You know you want to comment!


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